The City of Spokane, in collaboration with AMR and Spokane Regional Emergency Communications (SREC), is launching an innovative program to provide its residents with a variety of options for quickly reaching the appropriate level of medical care when calling 911. Based on the description of your symptoms, you may be transferred to a Nurse Navigator who will work with you to determine an appropriate path for treatment and assist in coordinating that care.
Our innovative Nurse Navigation Program ensures you quickly reach the most appropriate level of care based on your needs. This may include transportation to a local clinic, urgent care or hospital emergency department. You talk to a licensed nurse to make that decision, together.
Right Care. Right Time. Right Place.
When calling 911, a trip to a hospital's emergency department may not be the best solution based on your medical needs. With the City of Spokane's innovative new program, developed in collaboration with AMR, you have more options for the type of care you receive, and how and where you receive it.
Nurse consultation to determine caller's specific needs
Nurses quickly determine the appropriate care needed
Including local clinics, urgent care centers or treatment in place
The Nurse Navigation Program gets you to the right level of care, which may or may not include transportation to a hospital emergency department. 911 calls with non-emergency injuries or illnesses may be transferred to a Nurse Navigator who can assess your symptoms and refer you to the most appropriate medical care. This care could include referral to a local clinic or urgent care.
You should only call 911 for a serious medical emergency that you believe is life-threatening or that may be or become life threatening, for example:
You should not call 911 for minor illnesses or injuries that can be addressed through an appointment with a primary care physician (for example: a cold, a minor cut or a routine medical matter).
If your condition is not a medical emergency, you may be transferred to the Spokane Nurse Navigation Program, and the Nurse Navigators will assess your symptoms and determine the most appropriate medical care for your condition.
If your condition is not a medical emergency, you may be transferred to the Spokane Nurse Navigation Program, and the Nurse Navigators will assess your symptoms and determine the most appropriate medical care for your condition.
The 911 operator will triage your condition by using industry best practice medical protocols and questions to thoroughly evaluate your medical symptoms. The results of that protocol-driven evaluation of your specific medical symptoms will determine the best course of care for you.
The Nurse Navigator will connect you to the most appropriate level of care available, taking into account your existing primary care provider (if any), the location where you last received care, your location, the time of day and the availability of healthcare providers.
Each clinic has walk-in appointments that will be available for Spokane Nurse Navigation Program patients. The Nurse Navigator will notify the clinic that you are on the way, provide your estimated time of arrival and the reason(s) you are seeking medical care. Upon your arrival, you will be seen as soon as possible.
Yes, the selected medical providers will be licensed and able to prescribe medications for treatment.
No. You should schedule all follow-up medical appointments directly with the medical clinic in which you were seen and where you are now a registered patient, or with any other non-emergency healthcare facilities that the clinic may refer you to.
Nurse Navigators with the Spokane Nurse Navigation Program should only receive calls that would typically be best handled in a non-emergency healthcare environment as opposed to a hospital emergency room setting. However, if the Nurse Navigator determines that your condition is of an urgent or emergency nature that should best be treated at a hospital or that you should be assessed by EMS first responders, we will immediately dispatch an EMS unit to you.
The Nurse Navigators are licensed nurses by the State of Washington and have professional experience in emergency nursing. They are also specially trained in the practice of telephone triage.
The Nurse Navigator will work with you to determine the most appropriate level of care for you. If during that process you or the nurse determines that an ambulance is needed, then one will be dispatched.
AMR's 911 Nurse Navigation program for Spokane will be funded through a previously approved EMS fee increase last year. There are no costs to end users for the 911 Nurse Navigation referral or Nurse-arranged Lyft transport. Additionally, due to this program, the Spokane Fire Department should experience a reduction in calls requiring first responders or ambulance response, further reducing overall costs and maintaining availability for higher-priority 911 calls.
